During the
early 1980's, Carol Peters and I wrote, illustrated and
sold several reproducible teddy bear books in Highsmith,
a national library catalog. We discovered that we really
didn't enjoy the retail business and had other
priorities in our lives. We've learned so much
about publishing since then, but teachers still ask for
the materials.

Home
Away From Home

Your classroom is your home away from home and should be
a pleasant place to spend your day. Here are some
suggestions for using a bear them at the beginning of
the year to make your classroom a "beary" special place!

B.I.P. Bulletin Board: Keep a B.I.P. (Beary Important
Person) bulletin board up all year, but start with
yourself. Regie Routman talks about the need for
teachers to bond with their students and this is one way
to begin. You are very important to those incoming
students and this is an excellent way for you to share
yourself with them during the first week. It will also
give them a better understanding of what to do when it's
their turn. Enlarge the B.I.P. bear from the database
below. I like to use an overhead transparency so that I
can make it quite large. There's no need for coloring if
you use tan vellum: just use a black permanent marker
for the outline. Children may bring anything from home
that tells something about themselves and who they are
(i.e. photos, posters, memorabilia from vacations, and
even their favorite shirt!). Arrange a time on Monday to
help the child of the week put their bulletin board
together. Besides being a real ego boost, it's a
valuable lesson in organizing and presenting materials.
Children should be allowed time to share the bulletin
board they've created and all it holds. Their classmates
can each contribute to a "You Are Beary Special" book
that can be presented to the B.I.P. at the end of the
week.

Bears, Bears and More Bears! Use any of the bears from
this page and/or Calendar Court to create a bulletin
board. Simply enlarge on brown package wrapping paper,
outline in black felt marker and use immediately. No
lengthy coloring is necessary.

Suggested Bulletin Board Captions:
A Honey of a Job!
Things to Bear in Mind
The Beary Best!
The Bear Facts About . . .
Hunting for Bears
On the Right Track

As a school "libearian" and
Reading Specialist, I have always had concerns about
mishandling of books. Unfortunately, there weren't too
many materials to use with young children 25 years ago
and so Carol and I made our own. I think your youngsters
will love this one as much as we do!

Teddy Time is a full color
reproducible teaching unit CD. Preschool and primary
teachers will love to create a classroom "Teddy Time"
with this set. It includes over 200 pages of original
poems, puzzles, pocket chart activities, songs,
certificates, readers, calendars, math and more.
Everything you need is there! The illustrations are the
whimsical work of Helena Normark, the talented artist of
www.graphicgarden.com
and
www.art4crafts.com
fame. All buyers will receive as a bonus a copy of Mama
Bear's Kitchenary, which will be added to the CD.

Proceeds from the sales
of this CD are dedicated to establishing and maintaining
a scholarship fund and to the support of literacy for
children and teachers. International
shipping costs will have to be calculated at the time of
purchase. I just mailed one to Australia and it was only
$6.55 to send it. Amazing!